Battle at Vale Technology
The Battle at Vale Technology was the last stand of any known organized Liberation Front forces, and the final battle of Operation Loose Ends. After a long period of time spent tracking down the location of the facility and determining its nature, the New Union launched a large-scale offensive against the facility in October of 2021. NU troops swept through external outposts quickly before breaching the facility. After severe losses attempting to repel the attacking troops, an order was issued over the facility's intercom, ordering the surviving resistance members to stand down. The New Union quickly moved into the rest of the base and began checking for useful intel, as well as interrogating all high-value individuals within the facility. Before the Battle Liberation Front The Liberation Front presence at Vale Technology and Engineering Facility was well-established even before Operation Dethrone. It was one of the strongest bases held by the resistance, Its location within a base that was recorded as abandoned long ago by any nearby Earth militaries rendered it a location that the Union did not consider consequential. As a result, it was able to operate as a central hub for regional Liberation Front activities within City 17 and the surrounding outlands. It acted as a major command and control center during Operation Dethrone, and was a fallback point for surviving resistance forces in the area who had survived the carnage at the tail end of the worldwide uprisings. Some months after Dethrone, the facility was assaulted by a loosely organized force of autonomous Ascension Troopers who had linked up with bands of Dominion Civil Authority survivors. Under capable leadership, this force could have inflicted massive casualties, but between the extremely demoralized DCA tending to break ranks when pressed and the fairly established anti-infantry defensive positions of the Liberation Front forces, this ragtag remnant of the Infinite Dominion was repulsed with relatively few losses of personnel and materiel. The facility then shifted focus to working on reaching out to any and all human survivors and trying to get some form of wider organized movement back into action. As the New Union grew in strength and moved across Eurasia, many surviving Liberation Front cells rallied to Vale Technology command team. New Union The New Union had been bringing down insurgent Liberation Front survivors with great success for some time. However, the New Union did not know of the existence of the Vale Technology and Engineering Facility until one of the teams evacuated from PC45 discovered an abandoned Liberation Front outpost that made mention of the location. Further investigation of nearby equipment indicated the base was within the region of PC17. Scanners were dispatched en masse in an effort to find evidence of Lambda activity. The scanners were able to find enough field patrols for Shadow units to monitor. With enough surveillance and reconnaissance data gathered, New Union command was able to triangulate the location of the base, and confirmed its existence with a scanner modified for higher-altitude operation. They were unable to launch an immediate offensive as the Dominion forced them from their headquarters in PC11. However, after some time, the New Union restabilized around a new headquarters. The commander issued an order to prepare APCs and air units for battle in late September of 2021, and gave command of the operation to 94267. After two weeks of preparation, the attack began. The Battle The New Union had pinpointed the lookout points and patrol routes for the base's perimeter. Shadow units picked off the lookouts one by one, while the patrols were surrounded by New Union ground units and made to radio back to base as though nothing had happened, to avoid putting the base on alert. Once the perimeter had been captured, strike forces were sent to attack towards both known vehicle access points of the base. Formations of synth gunships and hunter choppers swept in at high speeds, blasting Liberation Front outposts before they had a chance to fire off any RPGs in response. As this was going on, APCs, dropships, and striders all converged on the north entrance, while another column of APCs attacked the south entrance. The fighting in both locations was intense, but the north entrance was quickly outflanked and overrun. Resistance at the south entrance broke not long later, as Lambda forces pulled back inside of the base in an effort to both consolidate their defense and to get out of the heavy suppression fire New Union air forces were unleashing outside. 08292 personally arrived at the south entrance with an Internal Watch detail just in time to watch Overwatch forces breach the south entrance and start decimating the already-fatigued resistance forces within. Not long later, the north entrance was also breached. Liberation Front forces took additional losses desperately trying to stem the unrelenting tide of New Union troops, but they were unable to do so. With losing battles on both fronts, whoever was in charge of the base decided to instruct everyone to surrender in an effort to try and save the lives who hadn't fallen in battle yet. The few who refused to surrender were swiftly put down, and before long the New Union had moved into most of the base unopposed. Casualties New Union *330 Sword units fielded. 30 KIA. 47 wounded. *20 Shadow units fielded. 0 KIA. 0 wounded. *600 Overwatch units fielded. 41 KIA. 76 wounded. *3 NOMAD-class synths fielded. 0 KIA. 0 damaged. *6 Synth Gunships fielded. 0 destroyed. 1 damaged. *18 Strike Choppers fielded. 0 destroyed. 0 damaged. *3 Synth Dropships fielded. 0 destroyed. 0 damaged. *95 APCs fielded. 0 destroyed. 7 damaged. Liberation Front *147 resistance fighters fielded. 79 KIA. 22 wounded. *12 lookouts fielded. 12 KIA. 0 wounded. *30 patrol soldiers fielded. 9 KIA. 2 wounded. *162 Liberation Front-affiliated civilian non-combatants in the immediate vicinity. 37 KIA. 22 wounded. Aftermath The New Union completely decimated the Liberation Front forces in the area with a significant advantage in numbers and support, very swift and hard-hitting strikes, and engaging them on two fronts. Those who survived were extremely demoralized, and some had to be kept from committing suicide, at least until after questioning sessions were completed. 08292 moved into the base, looking for whatever passed for a command center in the base in an effort to see if the Liberation Front knew anything he didn't about the Infinite Dominion and their technology. He and his guards came across an older man with his hands up being defended by a young woman, who aimed her weapon at the commander. While his guards took aim at her, 08292 merely folded his arms, shortly before the young woman realized a Shadow unit had come in from a side door, forcing her surrender. The New Union captured a total of five HVIs, and discovered a trove of Liberation Front intel, gathered over the course of the Dominion's occupation. The HVIs and some of the other surviving Liberation Front members were brought back to New Union headquarters for detainment, and a garrison was left behind at the base. Some Lambda survivors begrudgingly joined Union Civil Service in the weeks that followed. The base was ultimately abandoned when New Union forces were shifted in their entirety to the North American continent, but the HVIs remained in New Union custody. Category:Conflicts Category:New Union Operations